Help! Present dilemma for MIL

[Alenee]

A little background...dh's family are gift-givers for Christmas and birthdays w/o fail. His brother always sends our girls gifts for both holidays. This has always baffled me because it just didn't happen in my family. On very rare occasions, when the aunts and uncles were all together, then they would give gifts to eachother but not to the kids. So for fifteen years I've felt this pressure to buy them gifts at Christmas. Admittedly, I forget their birthdays every.single.year.

 

These past two years though have been rough so we made a deal with bil not to send gifts. I think. Hoping he remembers! But there was no such deal made with mil and a package just showed up. I want to be able to buy her something but not only is money scarce, the money we do have, we're spending on things we've been putting off for the kids and our home and the rest is going into savings. Not to mention, the woman has everything!!! Dh and I discussed it and he said he would 'take this one', meaning he'd call and explain the situation.

 

Tonight though, she posted on fb in reply to what one dd is playing on guitar, that it would be a good Christmas gift for her, to receive a cd of dd playing. Hmpf! I don't have the capability, I don't think...maybe I do. But then that got me to thinking about the possibility of doing something from the girls, homemade? IDK! Please help! I know something like that would make her smile but I am at a loss and again, money is a big issue. TIA!

[AndyJoy]

I don't know exactly how tight your money is, but if you have a small amount you could spend http://www.seehere.com/photo-gifts might be an option for you. I've ordered several things from them and have been very pleased with them. The code thankyou is good for 60% off through this Saturday, Dec. 18. We try not to "clutter up" grandparent's lives with lots of stuff at holidays, but they love things they can use or that are consumable with photos of the grandkids like a calendar, playing cards, puzzle, a tote bag for groceries, etc. You could even incorporate the kids' artwork as well if you wish, especially if you get a calendar or photo book. Not completely free/homemade, but it might be a low-cost option for you.

 

If you have a printer you could make your own photo/artwork calendar and have it spiral-bound for a couple of bucks or so at Staples or Office Max.

[Liz CA]

Did MIL mean she'd like a recording of your dd playing guitar? I think you can record this on the computer with a very simple microphone

My dh and ds used to record stuff on the computer with a cheapo microphone. My guess is, once it's on the computer you could burn it on a CD via Windows Media Player or REALPlayer.

[Margo out of lurking]

We no longer buy gifts for my dad and his wife. He has everything he needs, and it was silly for us to "trade off," with him sending us money and us buying a gift that he didn't need and we didn't need to spend money on.

 

I usually will take a Christmas photo of my kids, and then everyone in our families gets a framed photo. In our case, our kids are the only grandkids on both sides, so it's particularly special to the aunts/uncles too.

[TN Mama]

Do you have a paint your own pottery place nearby? That's a very inexpensive gift that the kids can make for your MIL.

[momofkhm]

Tonight though, she posted on fb in reply to what one dd is playing on guitar, that it would be a good Christmas gift for her, to receive a cd of dd playing. Hmpf! I don't have the capability, I don't think...maybe I do. But then that got me to thinking about the possibility of doing something from the girls, homemade? IDK! Please help! I know something like that would make her smile but I am at a loss and again, money is a big issue. TIA!

 

I don't know about making a cd, dh takes care of that sort of stuff. I have a friend that always does handmade stuff for the grands. I can't remember any of them but one - handprints on coasters. I didn't see how old your girls are so that may not work. Actually, her kids may have painted the coasters and she did handprints from her sister's kids on the coasters.

 

Last year, I found a program on-line called posterino. It wasn't free, maybe $25? But then I made a poster for each set of grands with pictures from the whole year. I got the posters printed at Staples for under $20. They both loved it! I let them frame it. That may be more than you can spend. But if you go that route, you can always do a new poster each year so next year you'd only spend the cost to print.

[zaichiki]

I like the idea of a calendar for the grandparents with photos and artwork.

 

We're doing nice frames (with pics of grandkids) and the kids usually bake a selection of Christmas cookies for them. This year we're also making chocolates (dark chocolate and chilis) for one of the grandparents who particularly likes these flavors and can't find the combination in many stores. Making nice chocolate candies is rather inexpensive compared to the prices stores ask for them.

 

What sort of technology do you have? If you have a digital camera with a video option you could make a movie of your dd and upload it to your computer. Could you then burn it to a CD/DVD? We have taken videos and burned them to CDs (audio only). Could you send her a file for upload to her MP3 player?

[Harriet Vane]

I think something homemade from the kids or of the kids would be ideal.

[Sherry in OH]

If you want to do a calendar, photo calendars are on sale right now at Walmart. They start at $7.00. All you need are photos in digital format. You design the calendar on Walmart's website. I believe you can do the same thing at Target.

 

Cinnamon ornaments are easy to make. They are cheap if you use dollar store cinnamon. We made them last year. I have several sizes of heart shaped cookie cutters. We made large hearts and used the smaller hearts to cut out the inside. After they were dry, we painted the year on the ornaments and glued photos in the openings. They turned out quite nice.

[BlsdMama]

Wow! She sent a gift and then suggested handmade gifts back to her? First, I'm thinking of sending your MIL a love letter.... :)

 

Handmade gifts - embroidered towels. Wouldn't happen to have embroidery floss on hand would you?

 

A photo collage?

 

What are the girls' skills? Do they write? Do they do calligraphy? Do they sing? I'd send Grandma something that just exhibits a skill. Our daughter Ana loves geneaology & embroidery. Our next one likes beads. Because of this, we have this type of thing at the house. :)

 

So, I'd think of how a child is particularly gifted and try to come up with a gift along those lines.

[Dawn in OH]

A great home made gift for a Grandmother is to make a cd on your computer with pictures of the children from the entire year. Grandma's love that!

[Cera]

A video recording of each of your kids doing something (reading a book, playing guitar, etc) would probably work wonderfully. If you don't have a camcorder you could ask around. I have had friends come over and use mine to make dvds for their family/deployed spouses before.

[Alenee]

Thank you ladies! You're awesome! These are great ideas. I'm sure we'll come up with something now. :)

[Mimm]

I often give pictures as gifts to grandparents. You can buy an inexpensive frame, a couple of your best pictures from the year, wrap it up and all she has to do is find a place for it.

[JennyD]

I often give pictures as gifts to grandparents. You can buy an inexpensive frame, a couple of your best pictures from the year, wrap it up and all she has to do is find a place for it.

 

:iagree:

 

Honestly, my parents and ILs get WAY more excited about photos of or (especially) stuff made by the children than anything I could possibly purchase. I give my mom a carefully selected book for her birthday and she's all, "Oh, thank you sweetheart, this is lovely," but the kids hand her some random scraps of construction paper glued together and it's, "OH MY GOODNESS! THIS IS SO WONDERFUL! I WILL TREASURE IT FOREVER! THANK YOU MY DARLINGS!!!"

[dcjlkplus3]

I am thinking about having my kids give a nice "recital" of their memory work in fron to of the video camera, and then putitng that on dvd. My dad especially loves to hear them do their memory work and my oldest is not often interested in "performing" that way - she gets shy, but she is not shy in fron tof the video camera.

[Catwoman]

Tonight though, she posted on fb in reply to what one dd is playing on guitar, that it would be a good Christmas gift for her, to receive a cd of dd playing. Hmpf! I don't have the capability, I don't think...maybe I do. But then that got me to thinking about the possibility of doing something from the girls, homemade? IDK! Please help! I know something like that would make her smile but I am at a loss and again, money is a big issue. TIA!

 

I think you may be viewing this as an inconvenience when it seems pretty clear to me (from a complete outsider's point of view,) that your MIL is being very kind and generous. She's asking for something that won't cost much money, and is also making it very obvious that she loves your dd and is proud of her.

 

I think you should try to do the CD for her, and also add a few fun little homemade gifts to the package. How about a decorated picture frame with a photo of your dds inside it? (It could be super-cheap to make, using popsicle sticks, foamcore board, or even a frame from the dollar store that your dds can customize with some paint, stickers, or whatever.)

 

I think your MIL sounds very sweet.

 

Cat

[Alenee]

I think you may be viewing this as an inconvenience when it seems pretty clear to me (from a complete outsider's point of view,) that your MIL is being very kind and generous. She's asking for something that won't cost much money, and is also making it very obvious that she loves your dd and is proud of her.

 

I think you should try to do the CD for her, and also add a few fun little homemade gifts to the package. How about a decorated picture frame with a photo of your dds inside it? (It could be super-cheap to make, using popsicle sticks, foamcore board, or even a frame from the dollar store that your dds can customize with some paint, stickers, or whatever.)

 

I think your MIL sounds very sweet.

 

Cat

 

Yes very generous...it's the idea that there MUST be a return present. With our money woes and our schedule, buying was the only thought that came to mind (and the WHAT and HOW MUCH) and all of that was just a burden. Years of this have taken their toll. Until this thread. I appreciate the ideas and I think we came up with the perfect gift.

 

We video taped the three girls performing piano and guitar. We'll make this into a dvd (we already have blanks) and mail it to all the grandparents, aunts, and uncles. :)

 

and a ps...We tried the mailing of photos with frames and no matter how well packaged, every time, the frames were broken. Not to mention the cost right now of printing photos. I'm not joking when I say that the cost of gift-giving has caused me no end of stress. I LOVE giving but I haven't had the time nor ideas to make a go of it right now. Again, this thread was extremely helpful.